Some Japanese online media on China news reported that the opening theme of Expo 2010 Shanghai China, which is coming next month, is very similar with a Japanese pop song released last century.
A Japanese singer/songwriter Maya Okamoto’s “Sonomama no Kimi de ite”(そのままの君でいて) in 1997.
Shanghai Expo Theme Song “Waiting you in 2010″(2010等你来) sung by Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and a lot of Chinese stars.
Both songs sound very similar for me. On the movie, lyrics and music are credited to another persons so this may not be a authorized cover song.
via Ascii.jp [J] and Searchina [J]
[Update 2010-04-18] AP reported that Shanghai Expo secretariat suspended use of the theme song.
[Update 2010-04-19] Japanese music news media Natalie reported [J] that Shanghai Expo officially took the original song of Maya Okamoto as the opening theme. It is so quick and fair. I appreciate all efforts to settle this down peacefully.
[Update 2010-04-22] Maya Okamoto’s 15th anniversary best album was originally planned on May 10th without this song. However, by strong demands, Nippon Clown decided to dump the all pressed CD and re-press a modified version with this song on postponed May 26th. via Asahi.com [J]
